At Sebastian’s questioning glance as he turned to look up at the silver haired giant, he clarified, “Most of the residents here have roots in the merfolk ways and they have remained separate from other land dwellers for millennia with only an occasional few individuals becoming involved. Usually those were emergencies like saving a survivor from a sinking ship in a storm. They sent someone to warn me of the emperor’s attacks beneath the seas as well, though it was too late to do much more than warn a few people and wait to see what he planned.
“The Cataclysm was more than anyone foresaw and even had I known his exact plans, there was little that I could do to prevent his attacking from under the sea.
“Anyway, most of the descendants of this clan, both those on the land and those in the sea, tend to observe the same distrust of the rest of the world. Your story of the sirens’ being used on their islands by pirates does little to change that view.”
“But Yaroma’s people are merfolk as well. Most of their amulets were destroyed to prevent them from escaping the pirates, but we managed to free them from their captors. Your clan of merfolk could help them return to the sea, since no one left on the Siren Isles can make new amulets of transformation. They are stranded and will become land dwellers without giving them a way back,” the mage argued against Gerid’s opinion. He wasn’t sure if the folk of the isles would want to become merpeople again. Many had never been able to transform throughout their lives trapped by the pirates, but without the option they would never know.
Gerid nodded at the argument and replied, “I am not against your thinking and certainly if you wish to leave the black ship here it would be an extra way of saving the villagers. I can bring your thoughts to the elders of the clan, but I am not so sure how receptive they will be. The shamans broke tradition to help us when we arrived here. Some of that came from curiosity from the younger folk after seeing that men were stranded on the island by the black ships, which were already infamous even to them.
“Still that was a rare exception, though I knew a couple other mermaids and their people knew of me from other legends,” he finished pausing to finally add a shrug. “It can’t hurt to broach the subject to their elders and maybe your two mermaids can go speak with them to make them understand. Anything is possible and we have known them for a long time so they are used to both worlds to a point.”
“If you boys can stop talking about leaving and the rest of the world for a moment, dinner is ready,” the head cook and wife of Gerid chided the men as she led her daughters in bringing out pots and platters of food. She was old to Sebastian’s eyes, gray haired, wrinkled and even a little bowed in her back; but the giant’s eyes lit up seeing the woman he had married over forty years ago. Being an immortal, Gerid had watched those he loved age and die so many times that youth and old age were no longer something he noticed for the woman’s looks as much as worry of the shortness of the time he might have with his wife.
Having been herded back to the tables, Sebastian joined those of his team who had come back to the home for dinner. If they could avoid time spent aboard the ship, they would gladly spend time on land with Gerid and his family. It wasn’t like they were bad hosts or it was a chore anyway.
Yara watched the women as they brought out the food setting it on the table and asked Sherari, “If you would like some help...?”
She was shut down with a smile and the shake of her gray head as their guests always seemed to be, “Not at all, dear, we are quite able to place a few platters of food, besides I have my daughters and granddaughters to help. If we let our guests work when I have so many to help anyway, well... that just wouldn’t do.”
The other women tried to smile, though a few rolled their eyes proving that they wouldn’t have turned down extra help, or perhaps, they were simply rebelling against the thought of being labor for their matriarch. Either way, the wizard knew that she could only insert her hands into clearing the table at the end of the meal as she had each night. It was the most she could get Sherari to let her do for their hospitality over the last couple of weeks.
Sebastian leaned closer to the pretty blond and said quietly, “You know she’s never going to give in and let you help.”
Frowning at him as she turned her green eyes on her boyfriend, Yara questioned, “But why? I remember helping my mother in our home when visitors were around as well, but many of them helped her without complaint.”
“Did any of those heal dozens of your loved ones and friends or fight to keep your village safe?” he asked with a slight smirk on the corner of his mouth having found the answer from Gerid days ago. “Gerid said that most of the villagers look at us as healers and they are exceptionally fond of the healer who not only healed the warriors but has cured anyone else with something as minor as a cold.”
Shaking her head slowly, the girl lowered her voice and said, “We basically brought the emperor’s black ships on them and even healing those I can, they’ve lost a lot of people. Healing them from our fight seemed the least that I could do. I went to the farms and helped anyone else I could find or I would have felt even guiltier.”
Bas shrugged and leaned closer to kiss her on the cheek. “Well, you two have a lot in common, I guess. She feels that the fight would have happened one way or another, so our being here to fight and also break the barrier is her way of paying us back too.”
Sighing, Yara pulled her hair back into a tail tying it off with a yellow ribbon before accepting stew ladled from one of the pots by the granddaughters of the Grimnal. She knew that she wouldn’t win the argument, since Gerid had told Sebastian as much days ago. The healer would still try to help where she could, and realized that she was being like he had just told her again.
The meal was near its end and Bas leaned back in his chair feeling full. It was hard not to eat too much in the Grimnal’s house. Their hosts were very generous and seemed to take pleasure in pushing dinner on them until they were ready to burst. He needed to train or work by day just to keep the pounds from sticking to him.
Looking across at some of his closest friends, the mage asked Nara as she sat beside Collin, “How does the hull look, Nara?”
She shrugged. “I’m not a shipwright and can only go by my feeling for wood and nature, but it looks like we managed to patch most of the holes before bringing it on land. I’ll do what I can to shape the wood and join the pieces together. Liam and the other water wizards continue to use their magic to dry it out while everyone else works to clean up and remove what is rotting or damaged inside the ship.”
“Have you really decided to just leave it here when we leave?” Collin managed to ask without sounding accusatory. He hadn’t been in that part of the battle, but most of those from Southwall still felt like they had earned the prize of the ship.
“It would be more of a pain to sail it back than just leaving it for the islanders. We’ll need to split the chests of gold and jewels the ship held. They must have planned to remain away from wherever the emperor keeps them to have as much as they did.”
Liam spoke up and said, “I’m surprised they bothered. With the reputation they have, you’d think that they would just use force to get what they need.”
Shaking her head, Yara rebuked the idea saying, “Haven’t you heard that it is easier to get flies with honey? If they try to fight everyone, even with a fleet of ships, they’d be hard pressed to find a port that can’t fight back. These islands used to be run by pirates and almost everyone is armed with powerful cannon. Even wizards need to be close enough to fight back, and cannon can kill or sink a ship from long range.
“If they have the wealth to use, then it is much easier just to sail into a harbor, pay for supplies and maybe even show some goodwill to build their reputation beyond that of being marauders.”
Serrena jumped in and said, “I kind of agree with Liam though. Their reputation is already that of danger. Who would let them just come into their harbor to trade?”
“Like Yara said,” Sebas
tian answered the question, “many of these islands were once pirate islands. Even after the Grimnal made a pact with the Trillian pirates that was just one of several factions working at the time.”
“You seem to know a lot about pirates,” Gerid said from the head of the table. His wife sat beside him, but he was still within earshot of the conversation. Sherari rolled her eyes as if they had just opened a topic that her husband liked to talk about too often.
“I did what research I could before leaving Hala. Southwall may not be considered a major naval power, since we have focused most of our resources on the emperor to the north; but our southern cities in particular do a lot of trade. Word gets back to the capitol regularly enough to send out military pirate hunters from time to time to deal with new pirates in the North Sea. Few of our allies are large enough to do anymore than we do from what I hear. Though admittedly some of what I get to hear is colored by people that might want to spin Southwall into something more than it is in comparison.”
“Nationalism can be good or bad,” Gerid nodded. “Those who win get to write history, so without both views we don’t see as clearly. Still, at least from my part of history, we dealt with pirates throughout my lifetime. There is always someone willing to pay for slaves and ships it seems. I made slavery illegal where I could, but many countries on Taltan still condoned the trade and used the workers for jobs they didn’t want to pay others a wage to perform.”
“Southwall followed your ways,” Sebastian assured the immortal. “I know too little of Taltan to know what they do or don’t do.”
“There are still other countries around the world dealing in slave trade,” Maura spoke up surprising them. The research wizard was nearly on the other side of the table from the Grimnal. Being unable to become close to his team, though they had tried to be welcoming to the elder wizard; Maura had spoken with the Gerid and his family a few times, but didn’t seem any better at dealing with them. It was one of the problems with wizards who went into research. They were usually in that field because they were intelligent and curious about various types of magic, but they were often those who were loners and unable to form close bonds with others easily.
Continuing once she had drawn their intention, Maura added, “Taltan has several countries dealing in slaves, though Rhearden is our closest tie to the other continent and does not. Even Famir and Rama to the east are said to have slaves, though they are smaller countries.”
“I wonder where the emperor gets his workers,” Liam said suggesting another possible outlet for sales, though the emperor’s cities were land locked and scattered around the Dragon Spine Mountains.
Moving from the subject to lighter things, the group around the table let the matter drop and moved onto other fare. When the dishes were gathered, Yara and Sebastian helped clearing the tables along with more of their team. It was to help Sherari and her family as much as it was to be able to clear the floor for some dancing.
The tables were moved and a trio of men came with instruments as other villagers began to show up as well. Since the large house served as a center for the island, people knew when to arrive for entertainment each night.
Yara took his hand before he could think to invite her to the floor and the couple was just two of the dozens joining them before they knew it. Since the first week and the funerals, every night had returned to the attempt to enjoy life that seemed to be what the islanders preferred. A handful of merfolk showed up as well to join the others looking steadier on their feet than Yaroma and her sister had been when they first met after changing into human form.
In fact, the mermaids had acclimated well and one of the couples dancing was Olan with Yaroma. Her younger sister was pretty and quickly in demand from some of the local men as well.
Sebastian tried to stop watching over those he was responsible for and placed his attention on the woman he was in love with in his arms. Worries over where people would go and the black ships were placed in the back of his mind as the mage tried to avoid wondering about the future.
Chapter 5- New Portals
A frustrating morning spent trying to convince the shamans of the merfolk into discussing an exchange of understanding about magic had led Sebastian to give up for a time. He had decided to let Maura, a more experienced researcher, take over where he seemed to be only able to fail.
Even having Gerid attempt to act as a go between had failed. He was the elder of their people, but he was also a land walker with no magic or understanding of the art to do more than ask for the favor. In spite of two centuries of living side by side, the truth of their feelings came out without being said.
Merfolk magic, even though extended through runes to those on land, was a well guarded secret not to be shared lightly.
Sebastian was curious though. It was true, but he was a mage and was hard pressed by the shamans he spoke with to make his wish to understand rune magic a need. He was a battle mage and didn’t need the magic for himself, though he could see some conveniences of being inscribed with a few of the runes to save the energy of casting spells. Without a need to protect himself with their magic, the shamans didn’t seem willing to teach him just to pass it on to the soldiers of Southwall.
Whether rune magic was something the shamans feared could be used against them by passing the knowledge onto him and the others, Bas wasn’t really sure. The merfolk had been a race that had hidden from surface mankind for so long that they were just legend, so perhaps he was expecting too much.
With no way to get the information without potentially damaging the tenuous relationship he had begun to establish with these people, the battle mage had used restraint and retreated before he pushed too far. Giving some of his team the idea to discuss the magic as they worked, or like Maura have them look for new ways to open a discussion, Sebastian tried to let that matter go as he returned to the Sea Dragon.
He found Annalicia and her cousin Darterian studying over a device sitting on a table beside several naval maps. The flat piece of metal, with a strange green gem both round and smoothed to feel virtually seamless for fingers sliding from metal to gem; had been instrumental in finding the Grimnal. It had been reconfigured from its original use, but it could still do that as well. This was why the mage had come to the Sea Dragon and, as he entered, the eyes of three wizards, including Reynolvan who was almost always near Anna, looked to the young man entering before giving cursory nods to his arrival.
Looking at the three wizards being ignored by the crew as much as they could in the steersman’s room, he noticed the differences between them easily. Anna was petite with platinum blonde hair that had appeared to turn nearly white with the exposure to the sun. Like a throwback to her grandmother, the beautiful young wizard could make people believe in elves with her graceful body and slightly pointed ears. Her cousin was both larger and a bit stockier in comparison, though nowhere near the size of Sebastian who was slightly above average in size for the men of Southwall. His brown hair and eyes looked like most men of the North and Taltan, unlike his cousin with her exotic almond shaped green eyes.
The last man was no blood relation and his eyes often looked to Sebastian as a hindrance and unwanted annoyance to the wizard. Reynolvan was a powerful wizard and, like the other four with magic, had been in the wizard’s tournament. His dark hair and beard were more common to the men of Malaiy, at least from what he could tell from the crew who were also from Malaiy. Darker skin that was both dark from the sun tanning him and being of darker complexion naturally set him apart from the young woman he served. Reynolvan had been sent as both a competitor and Anna’s bodyguard making him even more wary of the foreigners on their ship.
“Did you reset it?” Sebastian asked Darterian, who was the most versed in the tracker’s use and construction.
The frown accompanying the nod he received from the man was surprising to the mage, since the wizard was very even tempered. Sebastian could tell that the look wasn’t for the question as much as it was for an unasked
question that he would have to answer for the mission leader.
“I did and removed the part that searched for the Grimnal, Gerid I mean. When I did that, it should have reset to only reveal new portals with a yellow light indicating a new gate. White and gray dots should even show anything that came through the gate for a time.”
“I understand that,” Sebastian replied stepping close enough to see the device. There was no magic being sent into the two nodes raised from its surface, as was needed to power the locator. It required very little magic to work and didn’t seem to take much from a user, but using one’s magic on their hands was a requirement for it to turn on and show a search.
Picking up the magical compass, the battle mage channeled his energy to turn on the device and a frown found its way onto his forehead as his eyes took in yellow dots that were so numerous that they nearly formed an unbroken line along one edge. The points went from west to nearly north and ranged from bright points, which were newer portals, to duller ones which were older gates.
The brightest was in the west meaning it was the most recent and probably closest of all the gateways opened recently.
“Has the emperor been this busy before?” Sebastian asked worrying over the activity. There were so many dots from such a range of angles on the green circle that he wondered how many were behind North Wall. It wasn’t a question of whether there had been newly opened gates since they had left Southwall, but how many portals had actually been opened. It was a bad sign if the wall could no longer hold the emperor’s wizards safely to the north away from the heart of the country. The safety of the entire nation could be in jeopardy.
Shaking his head, Darterian replied, “I am not an expert like my grandfather and can’t say that I have been monitoring portals before this trip. On the other hand, I can say that even set the way it was for finding Gerid, there hadn’t been this abundant an amount before grandfather changed it to find this island.”
Battle Mage: A Hero's Welcome (A Tale of Alus Book 8) Page 6